Severe disruption hits Portugal in first general strike for 12 years23 hours ago Share Save Alison Roberts Lisbon Share SaveCorbis via Getty Images The two big union federations are staging the strike, which will disrupt much of the country's servicesDozens of flights and trains have been cancelled, schools closed and hospital operations postponed in cities across Portugal, as the two main union federations stage a general strike over unprecedented labour reforms. Public transport was down to a minimum service in many areas, and unions said refuse collections were at a standstill as the strike took hold on Thursday. The prime minister tweaked some proposals after calling the federation in for talks late last month, but it was clearly not enough. It is Portuguese in their 20s who are likely to be most affected by the changes - and opinion is rather mixed. EPA Prime Minister Luís Montenegro appears to have been taken aback by the scale of opposition to his reforms